Why do we not do what we should be doing and do what we should not.
This burning question churns our mind and shows us a mirror to our actions in which we are feverishly involved day in and day out. Often our myopic vision limits us to me and mine, and rarely we see our position from the broader perspective of society, country or the world. We all get such opportunities however small or irrelevant it might feel at that time.
A village teacher who can educate APJ Kalam, a bank manager who went out of his way to loan a student and make a noble doctor out of him, a mother who can give her boy upbringing to become Bhagat Singh. All such opportunities are directly given to us to be the instrument of change. It might be a drop, but that’s what makes an ocean bit by bit.
Our Sikh gurus have fought the holy war for generations, the atrocities caused to them gives us goosebumps and brings tears to our eyes when we listen to the personal sacrifices they incurred to hold on to the flag of Dharma. This spirit of individual Dharma builds our society step by step, if we shrug it off and pass it to someone else, and he/she does the same, the undercurrent of non performance starts eroding our society and eats it up. With the passage of time, the results are seen as the downfall and break down of the system.
Krishna explains two types of sins to Arjuna in the middle of the battlefield. We all are doing Sin of Commission ( (we are doing something that we should not do.) out of attachment, love and sometimes fear and turn our heads away from our responsibilities towards a greater cause (Sin of omission).
It’s a sin to close our eyes towards a situation and shrug it off our shoulders and pass the baton to the government or other authorities when our mere interference could have solved the problem. We can give an umpteen number of reasons for not doing what we should be doing and paint ourselves as examples for our children and future generations. They will follow our footsteps , we are the shining heroes for them. By not participating proactively by thought, word and action, we are incurring a sin.
Martin Luther King Jr. famous quote says, “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
We are the creators of the world we live in. We have to participate to build it, we have to fight it out, if not, then one day the rising waters of doom will reach our door steps too, and we will be washed away into oblivion by the ruthless mother nature. No blame, No arguments, No possession will save us then.
So the decision is ours. Do we sit on the boundaries and watch the tides rise or do we jump in to create some bridges?